Cummins, after endless strains and twangs, is back bowling fast for Australia, who have a ghost attack – a set of genuinely scorching pace bowlers in their prime – quietly assemblingThere are few things in sport as exciting as pure speed. Remember the stodgy start to the Rio Olympics? The empty seats, the greasy drizzle, the sense of an entire Games drifting into the arena of the unwell? Usain Bolt fixed that, instantly and without argument, by turning up, goofing about waving at peo

The Lancashire wicketkeeper also plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL and he used his knowledge of the Wankhede Stadium to play an innings which suggests he still has a part to play in the red-ball gameLocal knowledge can go a long way in a bustling city like Mumbai. Black and yellow taxis, for example, cost far less than the blue and silver ones, with the sole difference between the two being air-conditioning when simply winding down the window works fine.Heading to the cricket? The ticket offic

• England 400; India 146-1
• Full scorecard from day two of the fourth TestEngland could not dislodge Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara after dismissing India’s opener Lokesh Rahul cheaply as the hosts reached 146-1 at stumps on day two of the fourth Test. Earlier Jos Buttler’s sixth half-century helped the tourists post 400 in their first innings at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. Related: India v England: fourth Test, day two – as it happenedContinue reading..

• England 400; India 146-1
• Full scorecard from day two of the fourth TestGiven that they have to win this Test to have a chance of levelling the series this was a grim day for England’s tourists. They did not play too badly; Jos Buttler shepherded the tail impressively when they batted, then the bowlers and fielders, gathering the red dust of Mumbai on their whites all the while, toiled honestly enough when in the field.But the figures make gloomy reading for a side that has to

Jos Buttler and Jake Ball carried England to a strong total of 400, before some poor bowling and an unbeat 107-run stand between Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara put India in a good position 11.04am GMT52nd over: India 146-1 (Pujara 47, Vijay 70) We can indeed and it’s Root to bowl it. Vijay sees the first couple of balls off before working a short one round the corner for two, before going back to the business of defending the rest. That’s stumps on a day that started very well fo

Australia win by 117 runs at the Melbourne Cricket GroundDavid Warner stars in Australian innings with another century 10.21am GMTAnd Australia wins by 117, if you must know. The run chase only reinforces what an innings that was from Warner, who timed his run well, kept his patience, and didn’t try to hit his way out of trouble until it was time to attack at the back end of the afternoon. He held things together, with some laboured but stubborn support from George Bailey and Travis Head e

Australia 264- 8; New Zealand 147 (36.1 overs) | Australia win by 117 runsWarner’s 156 from 128 balls helps Australia seal series whitewashDavid Warner destroyed New Zealand and led Australia to a morale-boosting series sweep of their one-day cricket series. After rescuing the Australian innings in Friday’s dead rubber at the MCG, Warner came within one ball of becoming only the 11th batsman to carry his bat through a one-day international.Related: Australia beat New Zealand to compl

Meg Lanning’s Melbourne Stars take on Sydney Thunder this Saturday‘She’s got a massive future ahead of her and she’s only so young as well.’She’s being hailed as the Bradman of women’s cricket and now Meg Lanning is promising yet more runs in what promises to be an explosive start to the WBBL on Saturday.Lanning’s Melbourne Stars will take on defending champions Sydney Thunder in a day-nighter to complete an opening round treble of matches at North

Live updates from the final match of the series at the MCGEmail: geoff.lemon@theguardian.com | Tweet: @GeoffLemonSport 4.40am GMT18th over: Australia 70-2 (Warner 35, Bailey 23)Another tidy over from Santner, three runs from it. Pressure builds...4.35am GMT17th over: Australia 68-2 (Warner 33, Bailey 22)One of the many Colins, this one named de Grandhomme, comes on for his first over, and is milked like a Jersey cow. A brace and a single to Warner, a wide to Bailey, then Colin 1 keeps sliding le

Cricket Australia XI 4-3 after Pakistan were 208 all-outAmir takes two wickets with opening two balls on the CA XI inningsPakistan tearaway Mohammad Amir has delivered a 12-ball spell that will send shivers down the spines of Australian batsman.The 24-year-old quick ripped through the inexperienced Cricket Australia XI on Thursday night to leave them for 4-3 at stumps on day one, but his deliveries would have knocked over any world-class batsman. Related: Australia name unchanged squad for first

With a culture of solving problems behind closed doors the Australian coach and captain’s public criticism of Glenn Maxwell smacks of cricket politicsDepending on how you like your sport served, cricket either suffers or enjoys a reputation for being political. But while politics is probably no more or less part of the game than most other professional sports, cricket’s nature gives rise to pondering in a way many others cannot. Related: Australia name unchanged squad for first Test

• Hameed: ‘It’s great to see the way Keaton has gone about his business’
• Injured opener has mixed emotions: ‘You want to be the one performing’The opening day of the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium was one of mixed emotions for Haseeb Hameed, with the 19-year-old England opener, whose tour of India was cut short by a broken finger, looking on from the stands while his replacement chalked up a century on debut.Hameed’s delight for Keaton Jenning

The 19th England batsman to score a Test century on debut brought up the milestone with an audacious reverse-swept four off an India spinnerAt 5am on Thursday Keaton Jennings jumped out of bed in a state of blind panic, convinced he had slept through his alarm and missed the team bus.Nine hours later, with a couple more heart-in-mouth moments along the way, the 24-year-old was raising his bat at the Wankhede Stadium in celebration after becoming the 19th England batsman to taste the sweet succes

• Fourth Test, day one: England 288-5• Check out the full scorecard from MumbaiAlastair Cook has spent four years waiting for a decent opening partner and then all of a sudden two of them come along in the space of three weeks. Keaton Jennings is the latest, welcome arrival. Under a cloudless sky he became the first England player since Billy Griffith in 1948 in Trinidad to score a century on his first day as a Test cricketer -and we can be fairly confident that Griffith did not reach

Keaton Jennings crafted a beautiful century on debut, guiding England to a strong but far from dominant position on a track behaving increasingly erraticly 11.06am GMTAnyhow, thanks all for your company and comments - sorry I couldn’t use them all - and we’ll be back tomorrow. Good-day.11.05am GMTSo, England are in the ascendancy. Runs on the board, plenty of batting in the middle and to come, and a pitch that is going to become increasingly vicious. Of course, they might still get r

The 24-year-old Durham left-hander captained South Africa at Under-19 level and has joined an illustrious list, containing the likes of WG Grace and Andrew StraussKeaton Jennings became just the 19th England batsman to score a century on Test debut after reaching three figures in the first innings of the fourth Test against India in Mumbai on Thursday.The 24-year-old is in illustrious company, joining a list that includes WG Grace, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott. Related: India

Peter Handscomb, Matt Renshaw and Nic Maddinson keep placesJackson Bird and Chadd Sayers to duel for the third seamer position in sideAustralia’s three debutants have kept their spots in an unchanged 12-man squad for the day-night first Test against Pakistan in Brisbane.
Batsmen Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson will line up for the pink-ball match at the Gabba starting next Thursday after debuting for Australia in a consolation third Test win over South Africa in Adelaide la

England's teenage opener Haseeb Hameed on his conversation with Indian captain Virat Kohli after the third Test in Mohali in which the Lancashire right-hander scored an unbeaten 59 with a broken finger before leaving the tour to have surgery.

Mark Waugh indicates paceman not yet ready to return to Test teamCummins impressed in ODI victory against New ZealandAustralian selector Mark Waugh has all but ruled out handing Pat Cummins a surprise recall for next week’s first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba.Cummins’ impressive return to one-day cricket after 15 months out of the game with a back injury has former greats including ex-selector Allan Border calling for the star quick to play in Brisbane. Related: David Warner's l

ALASTAIR COOK says his authority as England captain has not been undermined by the statement from Trevor Bayliss earlier this week that the coach would have to “step up to the mark” to remind his players to bat positively.

The MCC’s plan to give umpires the power of dismissal is more the result of a decline in behaviour in the recreational game than the top level and the hope is it will be seldom if ever be usedFor years the MCC could be relied on for its crustiness, an unwavering bastion of the old establishment, but you cannot trust it to behave according to expectation in the 21st century.Suspicions have been aroused for a while – the advent of a sign erected outside the toilets at the back of a sta

Hove club’s new chief executive has a first-class century to his name and played for Yorkshire seconds, but after more than 30 years in rugby union, he has more questions than answers as he strives to keep Sussex ‘relevant’Eyebrows were raised in two sports when it was announced Rob Andrew would enter the fraught, fragile world of county cricket as the chief executive of Sussex.For Sussex, who received 50 applications to replace the estimable Zac Toumazi, and the county game, A

Hove club’s new chief executive has a first-class century to his name and played for Yorkshire seconds, but after more than 30 years in rugby union, he currently has more questions than answers as he strives to keep Sussex ‘relevant’Eyebrows were raised in two sports when it was announced Rob Andrew would enter the fraught, fragile world of county cricket as the chief executive of Sussex.For Sussex, who received 50 applications to replace the estimable Zac Toumazi, and the coun

• MCC’s head of cricket accuses South Africa captain of ball tampering
• Du Plessis is appealing verdict handed to him in AustraliaFaf du Plessis’s pleas of innocence over ball tampering have been met with a withering assessment from the MCC World Cricket Committee with the body’s head of cricket, John Stephenson, saying the South Africa captain’s actions “fragrantly contravened the law”.Du Plessis is seeking to have the guilty verdict handed down to

• New law expected to come into effect by October next year
• Decline in behaviour one of reasons behind suggestion for changeCricket umpires at all levels of the sport will soon be given the power to eject players from the field of play for threats or acts of violence as part of a raft of recommendations announced by the MCC World Cricket Committee on Wednesday that also included a restriction on bat sizes.Marylebone Cricket Club, the guardians of the game, have become concerned about

• New law expected to come into effect by October next year
• Decline in behaviour one of reasons behind suggestion for changeA red-card penalty is set to be introduced into the laws of cricket for the first time.The MCC, custodian of the laws, will receive a recommendation from its world cricket committee to give umpires the power to send off a player in the most extreme cases of on-field breaches of discipline. Related: Rein in the size of cricket’s big bats and allow the best

The rural backwater of Itaguaí is an unlikely hotbed of cricket, kept alive by expats and eccentricity and providing a world-class excuse for a party“In all of this there was a comforting sense of the ridiculous.” So wrote Peter Fleming in Brazilian Adventure, which – eight decades after it was published – is still the sharpest piece of travel writing in English about South America’s biggest nation.He was lampooning a hare-brained expedition of foreigners tha

• Durham batsman replaces the injured Haseeb Hameed• Stuart Broad’s chances of return from foot injury rated ‘50-50’Alastair Cook has confirmed Keaton Jennings will make his England debut in the fourth Test with India and maintained that his own cricketing philosophy remains in line with that of the head coach Trevor Bayliss as they look to fight back in the series.Cook, who in Jennings will have his 11th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012,

• Durham batsman replaces the injured Haseeb Hameed• Stuart Broad’s chances of return from foot injury rated ‘50-50’Alastair Cook has confirmed Keaton Jennings will make his England debut in the fourth Test with India and maintained that his own cricketing philosophy remains in line with that of the head coach Trevor Bayliss as they look to fight back in the series.Cook, who in Jennings will have his 11th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012,

• Batsman replaces the injured Haseeb Hameed in the line-up• Stuart Broad’s chances of return from foot injury rated 50-50Alastair Cook has confirmed Keaton Jennings will make his England debut in the fourth Test with India that begins on Thursday and maintained that his own cricketing philosophy remains in line with that of head coach Trevor Bayliss as they look to fight back in the series.Cook, who in Jennings will have his 11th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew St

Warner’s 119 against New Zealand was his sixth ODI ton of 2016Claims Australian record for most tons in a calendar yearDavid Warner has ascended into the upper echelon of the short form cricket greats following his match-winning century against New Zealand in Canberra.Warner pounded 119 off 115 balls in the 116-run win in the second one-dayer at Manuka Oval, as the home side regained the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. Related: David Warner's imperious century helps Australia to ODI win over New Z

• Death of politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram had placed fixture in doubt
• ‘We are monitoring the situation hourly,’ says BCCI chiefThe Board of Control for Cricket in India has said it is hopeful that the fifth Test with England in Chennai will go ahead as planned following the death of the local politician Jayalalithaa Jayaram.Jayalalithaa, the popular chief minister of Tamil Nadu state, died overnight on Monday aged 68 following a heart attack on Sunday, prompting the anno